US troops deployed for border mission killed in vehicle rollover
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Two US soldiers were killed and a third injured in a vehicle rollover in New Mexico, marking the first deaths linked to Trump's expanded southern border mission.
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Members of the US Army 212 Infantry stand next to an M1126 Stryker vehicle parked at the US-Mexico border as part of Joint Task Force Southern Border on April 3, 2025, in Douglas, Arizona. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
A Washington Post (WP) report on Wednesday revealed that two US soldiers died in a vehicle rollover in New Mexico on Tuesday, with a third hospitalized in serious condition. These mark the first reported military deaths linked to President Donald Trump’s expanded southern border mission, according to US defense officials.
The accident took place at 8:50 am near Santa Teresa, a border town west of El Paso. According to three anonymous defense officials, cited by WP, the incident involved US Marines from Camp Pendleton in California, though the type of vehicle involved has not been confirmed as the matter is still under investigation.
Sean Parnell, a spokesperson for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither could authorities in Dona Ana County.
The Joint Task Force Southern Border, based at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, stated that the identities of the deceased service members will be withheld until their families are notified, according to WP. The accident occurred as thousands of active-duty US troops were deployed across the border as part of Trump's effort to strengthen security against illegal crossings.
The report details that while Marines have mainly been stationed in California, the troops involved in Tuesday's incident were on a reconnaissance mission to enhance the Defense Department’s understanding of the region. This comes after the Trump administration indicated plans to further expand the military's role at the southern border.
Trump seeks military control over land near Mexico border
This comes after Trump issued a directive handing the Defense Department expanded authority over federal lands near the US-Mexico border, intensifying his crackdown on undocumented migration.
In a memorandum released Friday evening, Trump instructed key cabinet secretaries to transfer the jurisdiction of specific federal lands to the Department of Defense.
These include the Roosevelt Reservation, a narrow strip along the southwestern border that spans Arizona, New Mexico, and California, though it excludes Native American reservations.
Trump's order paves the way to “enable military activities directed in this memorandum to occur on a military installation” along the border, authorizing the military to carry out operations, “including border-barrier construction and emplacement of detection and monitoring equipment.” It further allows for the designation of those areas as “National Defense Areas.”
A similar incident was announced on March 31, when the New York Times (NYT) reported that three US Army soldiers were found dead in Lithuania, nearly a week after their armored vehicle became stuck in a deep, muddy bog during a training mission, the Army reported.
A fourth soldier, who was missing, was later found dead following extensive search efforts.
The 70-ton M88 Hercules vehicle was successfully recovered from the bog after days of complex recovery work by hundreds of people, including US Navy divers and technical experts.
The soldiers were reported missing on March 25 when they didn’t return from the mission, and their vehicle was found submerged on March 26. The soldiers from the First Brigade, Third Infantry Division, had been training near Pabrade, a city in eastern Lithuania near the Belarus border.
